East Central Reporter

Republican state Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Vandalia) is reveling in what he views as a win for Illinois voters.

“Big win for Illinoisans across the political spectrum,” Plummer recently posted on Facebook. “Their voices will now be heard instead of ignored by the majority party. The Democrat majority was proven by a 3 judge federal panel to have intentionally neglected the citizens and avoided an independent commission in this naked power grab.”

A federal court judge recently ruled legislative maps enacted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this month are illegal and that plaintiffs filing suit to their validity are entitled to having a voice in the creation of a new set of maps. Democrats moved to institute the new maps without the benefit of U.S. Census data that is typically relied on in putting them together, with Pritzker quickly signing off on their legality.

“Shameless,” Plummer said. “We offered transparency and solutions that would empower the people and they chose to ignore good solutions and mislead the people with false claims. Why Gov. Pritzker broke his promise and signed these unconstitutional maps that violated the civil rights of Illinoisans is a question that must be asked. People over politics, this is the government of the people, we work for them.”

The court set Nov. 8 as the deadline that the plaintiffs have for filing their plan and established Nov. 18 as the deadline for Democrats to respond.

This isn’t the first time Plummer has spoken out over what he sees as voters being shut out of the process.

“You know the last round of hearings we had were basically boycotted by everyone in the state of Illinois essentially because no one trusts the committee, and they're kind of sick and tired of being fed false information, so I fully appreciate that you might trust the committee but really no one else does,” he said during a Senate Redistricting Committee hearing on the subject earlier this month.